Explosive for signaling



T R- OMPANY, or nnwvonx, n.

vMy invention has to do With the disseminaition throughthe air,by"means of explosives,

.-, of explosively in ert materials such, for example, as toxic materials used in recentchenr f .i cal warfareor dyes or coloring substances adaptedbydispersion in the air to give signais readily visible at great distances. One

1 object ofthe invention is to bring about the 3 desired dissemination in a more eflicient man- '1 yl9lner than heretofore practiced, as well as to w increase thejextent and fineness of the dissemtendency-v of the toxic or otherinertmaterial to decomposeat the moment of explosion. l F-urther objects and advantages of the in- 'vention will c'ri-pti0n; v v v sI-Iand grenades and shells containing vari- "flo'us materials intended to be spread and wide- ,13 disseminated through the atmosphere at Qthe moment of explosion of theshell or other Y ivices' have consisted of a central explosive charge suitablyazdapted to be detonated at the terial. which it was desired to disseminate pl1 osgene;' a s'olid toxic substance, as diphe- ;fbenzyleyanide;.fa;"liquid vesicant, as dichlor- 'Aetliy-lsulfide; (mustard gas), or such non- 'thefair,td.give signals readily visible at 7 ,I isting inthe form of nitrated starch granules,

vby simple admixture with toxic, colored, 0 lachr'ymatory, vesicant, or other materials,

gives an explosive filling charge which postsesseslmany points ofadvantage over the "formerlyv'used toxic and signaling shells and """other-likedevices, Starch before nitration botanical source of the starch, but in all cases nl' ifew huiidredths of a millimeterjfin i.di'amete r at thelargest. On being nitrated f fination. An other object is to reduce theappear from the following de qcontainenhave met with considerable use in wartare inrecent years. ,In general, such de-.

1 proper time, and an outer envelope of the ma-' iaueag e: air. hames-in may be an :uid'l toxic, substance, as for example, d1-' :nyleyanarsinej; liquid lachrymator, as brom- *toxiematerials dyes,:intended by dispersion eneas in thejform of very minute granules,

,difl'ering somewhat in size according to the doesnotnoticeablyin- 5 t wAL'rnRo. SNELLING, on ALLENTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR'TO TROJ'ANPOW EXPLOSIVE FOR SIGNALING.

No Drawing; Original application filed March 16, 1921," Serial No. 452,731, Divided and'this application I filed December 11,1924. Serial No. 755,320.

crease, and well nitrated starch consists of a fine powder of whlch' the size of the average particle is less than two-one-hundredths of,

present invention.

" .The close association of the liquid or solid 1 body which it is desired to disseminate at the nstant of explosion with the minute particles of nitrated starch, together with the intense rendmig 'eflect which nitrostar'ch produces at the instant ofdetonation,Lreduces'the admixed body to particles of extreme fineness, and projects thoseparticleswith great force to a considerable distancefrom the'center of the explosion, thus producing the desired" dissemination of the admixedbody to a much greater extent than has ever been by previously known means." I

As an illustration'of my invention, I will recite the preparation ofa composition which I find particularlyfsuitedtor use as a'filling charge intoxic shelll I ,first thoroughlyincorporate 79 parts by weight of nitrostarch in the form of 1 wellnia-ated, nitrostarch granules ,of 13.00% nitrogen, and one-half i part of a heavy lubricating oil. 1 After'the' thorough'mixingof thesetwo ingredients I add 20 parts of finely powdered diphenyl- 'cyanarsine, which is then thoroughly incor-j porated with the mixture of nitrostareh and oil. {The finished mixture. is ready for use as a filling charge for grenades.

In'general, I prefer'to use from 40 to 80 possible parts by Weight nitrated starch and, from 10 Y to {l0 parts of the material to be disseminated '95 ,or atomized, the remainder ofth'e composi-f V I 'mentione'd be niodified by using thirty parts. J

. in gas shells,as wellascoloringmaterials used I :W th explosives for'coloredcloud efi'ects in signaling, are organic bodies liable to decomoxanilidor dinitrooxanilid', I obtain granules.

mixture is to be used in charging aerial dropbombsdecreased sensitlveness'ot the explosive may be desirable, and this may be secured Where the .material to be dcsseminate'dfis a liquid by, increasingsome what the percentage of said ,materlal 1n the mixture.

ample, if'the illustrative composition above of diphenylcyanarsine, sixty-ninev and 7 one: fourth parts of nitrated starch, and three fourths parts of oil, I obtainfa composition ofless sensitiveness than that of the first ex} ample given. 'This fadaptability of I n'it'ro' starch explosives to sensitiveness control is avaluable characterlstic the purpose 1n"'v1 eW.'

' Many of the toxic materials which are used position to a greater or less extent by the intense vheat'to Which these materials are exposed atthe moment of detonation of 'the' explosive, and a considerable portion of the active toxic or coloring agent may be lost through such detonation. WVith; nitrostarc'h asthe deton'ating agent, I can-controliandf lessenjthis decomposition; 'Nitrosta'rch may be employed wet, that is, 'mixedf'with water, thereby securing a, relatively low flametem- 1 perature upon explosion and 'greatlyreduc-v I ing the "decomposing effect upon the admixed ,toxic' or other agent, and 'I have'further discoveredthat soaking Iiitrostarch in a solutio'n of common salt, or a solutionofany of the materials commonly recognized as possessing flame-coolingproperties,rfor example,

which hav'e substantially the 'sameexplo'sive force as the untreated granules of nitrostarch,

but which, by producing a lower flametem- Wet or dry'condition may stored'for some time, say. one-half 'hourto one hour, With a perature upon sexplosion, have even less tendency to decompose the admixed mate:

' trials than does Lwet nitrostarch." In carry-I ing out this step thelnitrated'starch in either I concentratedsolution of the fiame tempera 7' I: ture reducing agent; s With i most: agents the 1 solution should [be saturated. {After beingkept contact'w'ithgthe solution for the time mentioned,fthe agentis-ren'ioved', allowed to drain and/then dried at afloW temperature.

The excess liquid can be removed in a cen- For 1 ex of the material for Diphenylcyanarsinm explosive composition tion "containing; an ilad'inixe d f pulverulent flame-reducing composition 1 will g ve the follow ng: e

amount of the flame-deadening agent could- As a representat ve. example of ammwsi be reduced, andthe amount ofjtliet'oxic agent position containing'oxanilid V r l Pertcen tp NitrostarchLimm;

f whaia' saia' agent to be disseminated from the "shell is extremely sensitiveto de- ;composition' by the heat, the material; may

be advantageously dissolved in a'liquid and the --nitrost,arch then mixed with this sol i .a non;- Atjthe instantof explosion theligp i (lv is; disseminated as 'aspray in highly-attenuv,atedoratomized condition, .and itsftevapora v ,tion-.leaves the particlesfof the; dissolved solid 7 a suspensionin'isuch 'a finely dividedcondh T 1 I ftion as {to he i particularly efiective' 'vvhiie at v 1 the same time'the,jew poration ofth'e liquid atthe;instantfloffexplosionlarewntsa high-c I I temperaturejbeingreachedpthe heat of vapor ization of thelliquidabsorbing a considerable portion of {the energy which vvoul'd; othe re; vwisje' produce an ,excessive'fiaine temperature; "Carbon tetrachloride forms a' desirahlesol vent for use iii-this method of procedure, the

shell composition:,comprising from to ofnitrostarch,j1and from 10 to;3o;% of j a saturated solution of thetoxic agent in carbontetrachloride- 1 With compositions including toxic agents to 1' l be'disseminated'; I may employ inl i i f o V flame-cooling agent, a material whichiwillgi. itself de'compose into toxic products'and add 1 to the toxic; effect of the entire OOmPQSitiOn Q upon detonation. .Suchfanfagent,forjexam ple,is ethane hexachloride,whicll, iiiadde -to* a: mixture offnitrostarchiand a toxici a theinitrostarch. Wherela'very efficient flame reducing agent such'as oxa-nilid is used, the amountm'ay be even less than 5% but in ordi- 1 i' J nary practice I'prefertousc a flame deadena ing agent to; the extent of approximately 3O n 'or 40 of theaveight'oit the nitrostai'c'h in the f could-be correspondingly increased, the fol;- Y lowin'greprcsentingaan-example of 'a.com+'l1 decomposed and yield free chlorine gas and other highlytoxic products, While absorbing a part of the heat of explosion, and render the 1, main toxic agent less liable to undesirable de- I composition. Similar results can be obtained with other chlorinated bodies, such, for example, as carbon tetrachloride, ethylene trichloride or ethylene tetrachloride, materials pro- Lducing upon decomposition such poisonous products as free chlorine and carbonyl dichloride or phosgene, largely used for offensive purposes in recent chemical Warfare.

some cases I. mayrely upon the decomposition products of the chlorinate bodies as the sole toxic agent to be disseminated by the i 'nitrostarch explosive. For example, a simple 1; mixture of nitrated starch,an oxidizing agent, "such as sodium nitrate and a chlorinated body, such as hexachlorethane or carbon tetrachloride may be employed. In this case, no toxic Y material is present in the shell before explo- "sion, but upon detonation of the nitrostarch, ithe poisonous decomposition products are produced and disseminated through the at- .mosphere as required. In this case of course j reduction offlame temperature is not secured or desired, the object being to obtain as com- "plete decomposition of the explosively inert ingredient as possible. An example. of such a mixture 1s:

I claim:

1. The method of signaling, Which comprises detonating a composition of nitrated starch and a non-explosive signaling material.

2. An explosive composition comprising iiitrated starch and anon-explosive signaling material. r

3. An explosive composition comprising granules of-mtrostaroh, an admixed non-explosive coloring substance, and azflame cooling material. V

4. An exploslve composition comprising granules of nitrostarch, admixed particles of a non-explosive signaling material capable of being dispersed in finely divided condition, and an admixed agentcapable of reducing flametemperature. r

5.'The method ofsignaling, Which comprises detonating a composition of nitrated starch and a non-explosive coloring substance.

WALTER I O. SNELLING. 

